I went to Invercargil where I managed to find a scrap yard. The owner (Bernie) was great and managed to help me with fixing my locks and door handle. He actually managed to fully fix one of my locks on the van whilst I worked on the door handle! I managed to fix the other locks myself. Needless to say this wasted the best part of the day. After getting things sorted out I then went to the local hardware store (E Hayes & Sons) to see the original (#35) Indian Motorcycle that still holds the land speed 1000cc motorcycle record. It was the bike that Burt Munroe achieved the record on. I'll post some photos soon, promise.
Later that night I checked into a caravan park so that I could clean up and kick back. I met some Australians who were a great laugh and we sank a couple of beers as the temperature dropped!! They told me that I have to watch the comedy "Kenny" so I guess that's on my list for when I get back!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Monkey island & Milford Sound
Over the last week I've done quite a bit of traveling. I went down from Te Anau to Milford and took my time touring. I have to admit this part of the world is just stunning (I'll upload piccies when I get to an internet cafe - I'm using my phone again!).
On the way down to Milford I stopped at The Divide. This is where the Route Burn trail starts. I decided to take a 3 hour tramp up to Key Summit. The hike up hill was tough but after about 1hr15 I made it the summit (I packed really light). The views were absolutely stunning. Basically there's a glacier and a valley below as well as there being an alpine pond at the summit! Really spectacular views from 950 metres(ish). I'll try and get some photos up as soon as I can!!
I went to Milford and took a boat trip out on the sound. Again the views were really spectacular (this 'is' the NZ I wanted to see). The boat took us out to the Tasman Sea and under some waterfalls (literally!). Again the weather was perfect and the views breathtaking! Actually it's just too much to take in as the scale of the fiords is too great to capture in one visit! Hmmm, maybe I'll have to return!! :-)
Yesterday I left Te Anau (I went back there after Milford) and made my way south. I'm now by Monkey Island which is not too far from Invercargill. I've spent a whole day here today since I'm sick of driving. Actually I was also feeling run down yesterday so I thought I should have some R&R from my R&R!!
Monkey Island
Monkey Island Beach
Monkey Island at Night
Tomorrow hopefully I'll get to Invercargill and see where Burt Munroe lived (the world's fastest Indian Motorcycle). I doubt there will be much there but since I'm here I might as well go.
On the way down to Milford I stopped at The Divide. This is where the Route Burn trail starts. I decided to take a 3 hour tramp up to Key Summit. The hike up hill was tough but after about 1hr15 I made it the summit (I packed really light). The views were absolutely stunning. Basically there's a glacier and a valley below as well as there being an alpine pond at the summit! Really spectacular views from 950 metres(ish). I'll try and get some photos up as soon as I can!!
I went to Milford and took a boat trip out on the sound. Again the views were really spectacular (this 'is' the NZ I wanted to see). The boat took us out to the Tasman Sea and under some waterfalls (literally!). Again the weather was perfect and the views breathtaking! Actually it's just too much to take in as the scale of the fiords is too great to capture in one visit! Hmmm, maybe I'll have to return!! :-)
Yesterday I left Te Anau (I went back there after Milford) and made my way south. I'm now by Monkey Island which is not too far from Invercargill. I've spent a whole day here today since I'm sick of driving. Actually I was also feeling run down yesterday so I thought I should have some R&R from my R&R!!
Monkey Island
Monkey Island Beach
Monkey Island at Night
Tomorrow hopefully I'll get to Invercargill and see where Burt Munroe lived (the world's fastest Indian Motorcycle). I doubt there will be much there but since I'm here I might as well go.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Te Anau
To answer some of the questions I've had: Yes the holes in the rocks in Cape Farewell do look very similar to Arches National Park in Utah. The expanse of Cape Farewell is not as large though and the rocks are constantly being eroded by the sea so I'm sure it looks different from year to year.
I've made my way from Queenstown southwards. I left Queenstown yesterday after being there for a day. I stayed in a campsite and I honestly felt like it was a 'pack-them and rack-them' deal. Literally there was 2 feet between each camper van. Queenstown is basically the epi-centre of activities in the south. It's surrounded by Bungee jumps, paragliding, skydiving, luges (which I want to go on if the weather is good) and any other adrenaline type of activity you want. They also have coach tours to the Southlands such as Milford Sound and the Fiordlands. Since I'm driving there's no point in me using those trips!
After leaving Queenstown I was really surprised. I left on the SR-6 road and the scenery changed very dramatically. Queenstown is set up in a valley and it has very sharp peaked mountains surrounding it. A very beautiful location and it's obvious why it's popular with tourists. Anyway, as you start heading south you follow the lake out. On the outskirts there's a lot of volcanic outcrops/mountains - I don't know what the proper geological name is. Anyway they are very shear and have ridges down them. Similar to California but more pronounced. They merge onto the lakes and have trees growing in the ridges. I know Mum would love these views! Hopefully the pictures will do more justice than my description.
Today I'm in Te Anau which is the start of the Fiordlands. It's Sunday and I'm hanging out waiting for a trip to one of the Glow Worm caves. I've got a fair amount of time to kill so I'm going to read my book after finishing this blog entry and photo editing session. I plan on doing a Kayaking adventure on Tuesday Morning in the Milford Sound. Hopefully I'll be able to also do a boat trip into the sound itself (I'm not sure if the Kayaking goes the same route so I'll find out tomorrow or the next day.
I have to admit after leaving Queenstown, I now feel like this is the New Zealand that I wanted to see and expected to see. It's just very stunning scenery and it's really hard to describe and I'm sure my photos will not do justice. Hopefully when I get better access to the internet I'll be able to upload some of my videos.
I'm also trying to adjust to the Time here since we've just flicked over to Winter Savings Time (it's all topsy turvey down here!). I think the difference to the UK is now +11 hours. I don't know when Summer Time begins in the UK so that may confuse me as well!
Franz Josef Glacier
Me at Frans Josef Glacier
Fox Glacier
Looking back at Queenstown
A Fiord just South of Queenstown
Lake Te Anau with Te Anua on the peninsula
Looking over the lakes south of Queenstown
BTW all of these photos are available on my Flickr site with higher resolution sizes availble. Please obey the Creative-commons licensing by giving me credit for them.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16453589@N02/
I've made my way from Queenstown southwards. I left Queenstown yesterday after being there for a day. I stayed in a campsite and I honestly felt like it was a 'pack-them and rack-them' deal. Literally there was 2 feet between each camper van. Queenstown is basically the epi-centre of activities in the south. It's surrounded by Bungee jumps, paragliding, skydiving, luges (which I want to go on if the weather is good) and any other adrenaline type of activity you want. They also have coach tours to the Southlands such as Milford Sound and the Fiordlands. Since I'm driving there's no point in me using those trips!
After leaving Queenstown I was really surprised. I left on the SR-6 road and the scenery changed very dramatically. Queenstown is set up in a valley and it has very sharp peaked mountains surrounding it. A very beautiful location and it's obvious why it's popular with tourists. Anyway, as you start heading south you follow the lake out. On the outskirts there's a lot of volcanic outcrops/mountains - I don't know what the proper geological name is. Anyway they are very shear and have ridges down them. Similar to California but more pronounced. They merge onto the lakes and have trees growing in the ridges. I know Mum would love these views! Hopefully the pictures will do more justice than my description.
Today I'm in Te Anau which is the start of the Fiordlands. It's Sunday and I'm hanging out waiting for a trip to one of the Glow Worm caves. I've got a fair amount of time to kill so I'm going to read my book after finishing this blog entry and photo editing session. I plan on doing a Kayaking adventure on Tuesday Morning in the Milford Sound. Hopefully I'll be able to also do a boat trip into the sound itself (I'm not sure if the Kayaking goes the same route so I'll find out tomorrow or the next day.
I have to admit after leaving Queenstown, I now feel like this is the New Zealand that I wanted to see and expected to see. It's just very stunning scenery and it's really hard to describe and I'm sure my photos will not do justice. Hopefully when I get better access to the internet I'll be able to upload some of my videos.
I'm also trying to adjust to the Time here since we've just flicked over to Winter Savings Time (it's all topsy turvey down here!). I think the difference to the UK is now +11 hours. I don't know when Summer Time begins in the UK so that may confuse me as well!
Franz Josef Glacier
Me at Frans Josef Glacier
Fox Glacier
Looking back at Queenstown
A Fiord just South of Queenstown
Lake Te Anau with Te Anua on the peninsula
Looking over the lakes south of Queenstown
BTW all of these photos are available on my Flickr site with higher resolution sizes availble. Please obey the Creative-commons licensing by giving me credit for them.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16453589@N02/
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Queenstown
So I've just arrived in Queenstown today. To be honest I'm a bit confused on what day of the week it is since I've been doing so much driving and stopping in random places!! I left Nelson and Motueka on Monday and then headed down to Westport. I stopped just outside at a DOC campsite which was an old railway siding. It was an old village that basically disappeared into obscurity and is now just an old railway bridge without the town. Apparently the railway failed to make it and the whole thing was shut down in 1950 something. Oh yeah, the sand flies are brutal!!
From Westport I went down through Greymouth and was going to stop there the night. When I got there I decided against it. Not the most pleasant of places. Not bad, just lacking character and charm. A bit of a null entity!! I'm glad I carried on since I found a great DOC campsite just outside Ross. The campsite was by a lake with a nice secluded grass area. As it happens there were about 5 camper vans on the whole site which was really nice. I got talking to the others and there were an Australian couple who were touring for 2 weeks and the other couple were Kiwi's who were sightseeing their own country! Good on them.
The following day I went and saw the Glaciers. Franz Josef first and then the Fox glacier. I'll try and get some photos up here at some point (I'm using my phone to upload and type at the mo' - this is the first time I've had cell coverage for a week!!).
The next day I went over the Haast pass which is very beautiful. Parts of it reminded me of the high desert in California with the yellow bracken that you can see in Scotland. The weather was definitely bleakly Scottish! Very beautiful though.
Last night I stayed in Wanaka. That's the home to Mt Aspiring NP. I passed lake Wanaka and lake Hawea. Both lakes are huge. Very humbling.
Today it was raining in Queenstown! I gave a backpacker a lift from Wanaka to here and at the start he broke the handle off my sliding door!! Damn! ...My mobile home is a wreck!! I'm going to have to take a day out soon to try and go to the scrap yard to get some replacement parts!! All good fun!
From Westport I went down through Greymouth and was going to stop there the night. When I got there I decided against it. Not the most pleasant of places. Not bad, just lacking character and charm. A bit of a null entity!! I'm glad I carried on since I found a great DOC campsite just outside Ross. The campsite was by a lake with a nice secluded grass area. As it happens there were about 5 camper vans on the whole site which was really nice. I got talking to the others and there were an Australian couple who were touring for 2 weeks and the other couple were Kiwi's who were sightseeing their own country! Good on them.
The following day I went and saw the Glaciers. Franz Josef first and then the Fox glacier. I'll try and get some photos up here at some point (I'm using my phone to upload and type at the mo' - this is the first time I've had cell coverage for a week!!).
The next day I went over the Haast pass which is very beautiful. Parts of it reminded me of the high desert in California with the yellow bracken that you can see in Scotland. The weather was definitely bleakly Scottish! Very beautiful though.
Last night I stayed in Wanaka. That's the home to Mt Aspiring NP. I passed lake Wanaka and lake Hawea. Both lakes are huge. Very humbling.
Today it was raining in Queenstown! I gave a backpacker a lift from Wanaka to here and at the start he broke the handle off my sliding door!! Damn! ...My mobile home is a wreck!! I'm going to have to take a day out soon to try and go to the scrap yard to get some replacement parts!! All good fun!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Takaka
This weekend has been a bit of exploring around Motueka area. I went from Motueka into the mountains to a little place called Takaka. I mean little. The high street is part of the Route 60 road. Anyway it was nice to stop somewhere. I ended up there on Saturday and of course there was an amazing rainstorm passing through. Let it be said that I got very wet!! I ended up talking to a British Guy (Ed) who had been traveling for the last 11 months and was on his last leg before returning home. We found solace in a Cafe drinking coffee in the warm. - Until 4:00pm when everything decided to shut because the weather was so bad! After that I drove out of town and found a lay-by to park up for the night. I ended up meeting another couple who I'd met earlier in the day and we got talking. She had been traveling for 6 years and he had been traveling for 2 years. Italian and Israeli. Interestingly enough she has been through the 'Passport being stolen' deal, which made me feel a bit better.
I set up a tarp. from my Van to the Trees so that they could do some cooking and have a little bit of shelter to do it in. We were wading in mud pools though. Anyway since they had a car they really appreciated it. We decided to pool food and make a feast for everyone. We had leek pasta (my addition), peas and onions, and a boiled Egg each (their addition) and then sat inside my van where it was dry. The tarp kept collecting water and it was a case of pushing the water off the tarp. so that it didn't collapse! All good fun.
On Sunday (yesterday) I went to The Farewell Spit and Cape Farewell. A Very pretty area. At least it had stopped raining and the visibility was more than a foot!
Last night I stayed outside PuPu springs which is the largest natural Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Apparently it has the purest water in the world seconded by Antartica. Pretty cool! I met a Dutch Couple and we ended up talking until the late hours (10:00pm!). It's a hard life!! ;-)
Today I've been to the post office in Motueka and I've received my Passport replacement! Yipee!! What a relief.
By the ocean (near Totaranui) with a $million view by day!
Here's the view of Tortaranui on a windy day
Cape Farewell
PuPu Spring
I set up a tarp. from my Van to the Trees so that they could do some cooking and have a little bit of shelter to do it in. We were wading in mud pools though. Anyway since they had a car they really appreciated it. We decided to pool food and make a feast for everyone. We had leek pasta (my addition), peas and onions, and a boiled Egg each (their addition) and then sat inside my van where it was dry. The tarp kept collecting water and it was a case of pushing the water off the tarp. so that it didn't collapse! All good fun.
On Sunday (yesterday) I went to The Farewell Spit and Cape Farewell. A Very pretty area. At least it had stopped raining and the visibility was more than a foot!
Last night I stayed outside PuPu springs which is the largest natural Spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Apparently it has the purest water in the world seconded by Antartica. Pretty cool! I met a Dutch Couple and we ended up talking until the late hours (10:00pm!). It's a hard life!! ;-)
Today I've been to the post office in Motueka and I've received my Passport replacement! Yipee!! What a relief.
By the ocean (near Totaranui) with a $million view by day!
Here's the view of Tortaranui on a windy day
Cape Farewell
PuPu Spring
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Abel Tasman National Park
So after all the Disaster stuff I decided to continue on my way. I'm not going to let a minor hiccup get me down! I had booked a 3 day trip (Tramping/Hiking/Treking) into the Abel Tasman National Park and really wanted to do it, so I did! I started out at the base area (sorry I'm really crap at remembering Maui names) and made my way to the first hut in Anchorage Bay. It was a pretty hard hike and took me about 4 hours (with 50lbs/25kg of backpack). I took a heavy pack since I didn't want to loose any more stuff! Anyway after about 3 hours I made it and got in before night fall. The Huts are really basic but a lot better than a tent!
The huts are basically a dorm with a massive bunk bed. The bunk has 5 mattresses side by side on each level and then you bagsy the one you want. I got a corner one on the top bunk which was fine. I then went to the beach and went for a swim in the ocean. Pretty cold but refreshing after a sweaty day of tramping!
On my second day I tramped up to Awarai (sp?) and it was a really tough hike. I crossed the bay at low tide (20 minutes of walking in mud and cockle shells). That was pretty frightening because if the tide starts coming in you can get trapped. I got up early so that I could make it before the tide started flooding back in. Of course I went to the wrong marker initially (the high tide marker) and had to back-track to the low-tide marker. I wish I had my GPS!!! The hike from then on got really grueling as there was a rapid ascent to 600ft. I was told this was a flat coastal track too! Not so! Pretty tough but I managed to persevere in true outward bound style!! The views were really worth it though since there were beautiful beaches and rock formations to be seen from the trail. What you don't get told is that you will be walking on those beaches and that means you have to tramp down onto the beaches and then back up onto the trail again. Quite often you use the beach as a connection to the next part of the trail. Well worth it though.
Later in the second day I had to wait for the low-tide crossing at 17:00. Since I got to the beach before the crossing at about 12:00 I decided to take some well earned R&R. I did the obligatory sunbathing and swimming!! Really nice weather as well. Talking about miscellaneous stuff, did I mention the sand-flies ? Hmmm. Persistent biting small little bastards is the best way of describing them. Actually it's funny. If you hang around people who speak English, all you hear is "Little Bastard, SLAP!". You end up squashing them and have some of your blood squashed over you legs. And boy do they itch like crazy. I'm actually trying some oral tablets with antihistamine in today since the creams don't seem to be very effective. We'll see. Maybe paradise comes at a cost!!
Other news: So I've had an email from someone that they've found my small backpack. Hopefully the thieves threw a load of stuff in there or got spooked and ditched it. Anyway I'm waiting for an email back so that I can arrange a pick-up or meeting with the finder. Fortunately I left some business cards in there so obviously the finder emailed the email address on the cards.
Today has been a bit rainy so I decided to get my chores done. Laundry was really needed! I also had a shower at the local Cinema in Motueka!! OK so I was given a tip by some fellow backpackers that the local cinema is also a sports hall and they allow you to have a shower for $2. After 3 days on the trails I really did appreciate a bit of civilization. Now I don't smell so much!
Tonight I plan to go to Takaka which is about an hour North of Motueka. It's a small town in the mountains and apparently quite a fun little place. Should be a laugh to have a couple of beers and to just hang out.
Abel Tasman Trail:
Me:
Motueka (tide swimming pool- on the beach - the tide comes in and fills the pool with water and little fishies!)
The huts are basically a dorm with a massive bunk bed. The bunk has 5 mattresses side by side on each level and then you bagsy the one you want. I got a corner one on the top bunk which was fine. I then went to the beach and went for a swim in the ocean. Pretty cold but refreshing after a sweaty day of tramping!
On my second day I tramped up to Awarai (sp?) and it was a really tough hike. I crossed the bay at low tide (20 minutes of walking in mud and cockle shells). That was pretty frightening because if the tide starts coming in you can get trapped. I got up early so that I could make it before the tide started flooding back in. Of course I went to the wrong marker initially (the high tide marker) and had to back-track to the low-tide marker. I wish I had my GPS!!! The hike from then on got really grueling as there was a rapid ascent to 600ft. I was told this was a flat coastal track too! Not so! Pretty tough but I managed to persevere in true outward bound style!! The views were really worth it though since there were beautiful beaches and rock formations to be seen from the trail. What you don't get told is that you will be walking on those beaches and that means you have to tramp down onto the beaches and then back up onto the trail again. Quite often you use the beach as a connection to the next part of the trail. Well worth it though.
Later in the second day I had to wait for the low-tide crossing at 17:00. Since I got to the beach before the crossing at about 12:00 I decided to take some well earned R&R. I did the obligatory sunbathing and swimming!! Really nice weather as well. Talking about miscellaneous stuff, did I mention the sand-flies ? Hmmm. Persistent biting small little bastards is the best way of describing them. Actually it's funny. If you hang around people who speak English, all you hear is "Little Bastard, SLAP!". You end up squashing them and have some of your blood squashed over you legs. And boy do they itch like crazy. I'm actually trying some oral tablets with antihistamine in today since the creams don't seem to be very effective. We'll see. Maybe paradise comes at a cost!!
Other news: So I've had an email from someone that they've found my small backpack. Hopefully the thieves threw a load of stuff in there or got spooked and ditched it. Anyway I'm waiting for an email back so that I can arrange a pick-up or meeting with the finder. Fortunately I left some business cards in there so obviously the finder emailed the email address on the cards.
Today has been a bit rainy so I decided to get my chores done. Laundry was really needed! I also had a shower at the local Cinema in Motueka!! OK so I was given a tip by some fellow backpackers that the local cinema is also a sports hall and they allow you to have a shower for $2. After 3 days on the trails I really did appreciate a bit of civilization. Now I don't smell so much!
Tonight I plan to go to Takaka which is about an hour North of Motueka. It's a small town in the mountains and apparently quite a fun little place. Should be a laugh to have a couple of beers and to just hang out.
Abel Tasman Trail:
Me:
Motueka (tide swimming pool- on the beach - the tide comes in and fills the pool with water and little fishies!)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Day after disaster..
So I had a really good night's kip last night in my Scooby Doo Van! I parked by the ocean in a really quiet spot and the moon was rising over the sounds. Really amazing. I sat there for about half an hour after finishing my home cooked pasta dinner and just watched the stars. Seeing the Southern Cross is pretty cool. Also hearing the waves in the distance without any man made sounds is really fun. It's so tranquil.
After talking to another British couple who were staying in their van too, I felt a lot better about my situation. They told me about all the other crap that they've heard about from others and the same thing has happened to quite a few people apparently. And guess what, in the exact place where I was. I wish they had a sign there!!
Anyway I've decided to continue on. I also called the British Embassy earlier and they were really great. Basically I can get a new passport sorted out and that'll allow me to continue on my travels. The US passport is a little trickier but hopefully that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I will be calling them tomorrow since it's a public holiday (Easter Monday) here in NZ so I can't really do anything at the moment.
After talking to another British couple who were staying in their van too, I felt a lot better about my situation. They told me about all the other crap that they've heard about from others and the same thing has happened to quite a few people apparently. And guess what, in the exact place where I was. I wish they had a sign there!!
Anyway I've decided to continue on. I also called the British Embassy earlier and they were really great. Basically I can get a new passport sorted out and that'll allow me to continue on my travels. The US passport is a little trickier but hopefully that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I will be calling them tomorrow since it's a public holiday (Easter Monday) here in NZ so I can't really do anything at the moment.
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